William Shatner On His New TNG Documentary And Star Trek Into Darkness

William Shatner is the biggest Star Trek icon around, a legend! The 81-year-old Canadian actor is currently taking his one-man show – Shatner’s World: We Just Live In It – on the road in 2013. Part of his performance piece, of course, is his involvement in the original Star Trek series and the first six Star Trek motion pictures.

While promoting his one-man show, Shatner talked about his upcoming projects including a new Star Trek documentary and what he thinks of J.J. Abrams’ interpretation of the Star Trek universe. You wouldn’t get it from its title, but Shatner’s newest documentary Wacky Doodle is about the first two seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Shatner explains the new documentary,

It’s about how crazy it was, how difficult it was to get it started and do it right.

In 2009, one of the biggest surprises from J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot was Leonard Nimoy’s participation in the film as Spock. It was surprising that the original Spock, not only made a cameo in the film, but he was an integral part of the film’s narrative. Many felt the original Captain Kirk should’ve been included in the film too but William Shatner turned down the opportunity to reprise the iconic role. Shatner, in the past, has praised Abrams for his vision of Star Trek but has always felt something was missing. Shatner elaborates,

What [director] J.J. Abrams has done is really wonderful. He’s opened the field to a much larger audience. Perhaps, if he does more, he will come to the idea that ‘Star Trek’ is also a wondrous story and not just a ride of derring-do.

A few months ago, William Shatner said the new Star Trek movies are missing the emotional side of what makes Star Trek great. Perhaps J.J. Abrams can remedy that with the release of Star Trek Into Darkness. The first teaser trailer has hinted upon the film’s emotional payoff by paying homage to Spock’s death scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan from 1982. Maybe William Shatner is still upset about not being in the new Star Trek films after all.